Trek to Panwali Kantha

Sadanand Kamath

Hi trekkers and mountain lovers,

I would like to suggest the trek to Panwali Kantha (Pass) especially for those who have not been to this trek so far. The trek is of a moderate grade involving steep climbs and descends. There is a well laid down track in most of the places as this route was used in ancient times by pilgrims coming from Gangotri for Kedarnath when roads and vehicles did not exist. With the advent of roads and vehicles, pilgrims have virtually discarded this route. But this is a boon to the trekkers as the route is not crowded at all. The trek passes through many grassy land and high altitude bugyals. At Pnawali Kantha, trekkers can get a rare occasion of viewing Garhwal himalayan peaks on the one side and many bugyals on the mountain tops on the other side.

Since a lot had been heard about Panwali Kantha (3960m), we decided to replicate the old pilgrimage route to Kedarnath by doing this trek in October 1999. Autumn is the time when the chances of rains are less and one can get a clear sky most of the time. We did not encounter any rain throughout the trek and the climate was pleasant except at Panwali Kantha where it was very cold. We were a group of 4 persons - the youngest being 53(myself) and oldest being 64. This is just to give an idea that this trek can be attempted by any healthy individual. We took two porters from Uttarkashi who were familiar with this route to carry some of our luggage. Details of the trek done by us are as under:

Day 1 UattarKashi to Lata (1478m) 22km Jeep
Lata to Belak (2439m) 15km Trek
The trek is on a well marked path through forest after which there is a gradual climb through many grassy land to reach Belak. Stayed in a Shepherd's hut where we also had food.

Day 2 Belak to Budhakedar (1524m) 17km Trek
The trek is on a level ground upto Jhala after which there is a steep descend to Budhakedar. On the way, there are shepherds' huts where one can have tea/milk. Stayed in a lodge with very basic facilities. Food was available in some tea shops.

Day 3 Budhakedar to Guttu (1590m) 16km Trek
The trek is again on a level ground upto Benekhal hemlet where there is a Shiva temple situated at the end of a large grassy land. Thereafter there is a steep climb upto Bhaironchetti (2580m) followed by equally steep descend to Guttu (1590m). Guttu is a last road head for treks to Khatling Glacier, Sahastrtal, Masartal, Bhawani Bugyal and Kyaki Bugyal. Stayed in GMVN Rest House in Guttu. Food was available in some hotels.

Day 4 Guttu to Panwali Kantha (3960m) 18km TrekThe trek is a long one involving steep climbs on high mountains followed by walk on grassy lands punctuated by birch trees. From the top of the Panwali Pass, one can have a fine view of Garhwal himalyan peaks and also bugyals located on the mountain tops on a clear day. About 2kms down the Pass, there is a summer settlements of Shepherds with about dozen huts and a Dharamshala where we stayed for overnight. Food was available from some of the Shepherds' huts. This is the only place where we used our sleeping bags as night was extremely cold. It will be a good idea to spend one more day at Panwali to explore many bugyals in this area.

Day 5 Panwali to Trijuginarayan (1982m) 21km Trek
This is the longest stretch of trek for us as we decided not to stay overnight at Magguchetti as this village has been abondoned after pilgrims stopped coming through this route and staying here would require tents and food arrangements. The trek from Panwali to Kankhalikhal (11km) is more or less on a level ground on high mountain ridges. Thereafter, there is a gradual descend to Magguchetti from the mountain tops and to and Trijuginarayan (10 kms). Stayed in a Dharamshala. Food options in Trijuginarayan is relatively better because it is a pilgrimage centre.

The trek can be terminated at Trijuginarayan and one can take a jeep to Guptakashi (38 km) from where buses are available to Rishikesh/Haridwar. We, however, continued our trek to Kedarnath.

There are two other options for this trek. (i) Trijuginarayan-Magguchetti-Panwali Kantha-Guttu and (ii) Guttu-Panwali Kantha-Magguchetti-Trijuginarayan. In these two options though the number of trekking days are reduced, the flip side is that one may find it difficult to adjust to the high altitude in a single day. Moreover, in this route, tents and food arrangements may have to be made for stay at Magguchetti.

I hope the information provided in this post is useful to those who plan to trek Panwali Kantha in the near future. I will be happy to provide any further information on this trek. I am sure many IMers must have done this trek in recent times whose latest inputs for this trek will also be useful.

I have uploaded some pictures of this trek at:
www.indiamike.com/photopost/member.php/uid/20752

Happy trekking,

Sadanand

chits007

Hi SK,

Thanks so much for sharing ..
You are doing a wondeful job..you have trekked so much..everytime I open IndiaMike in latest phots section I see you pics..

why dont you penned down all your treks in one blog
use google service blogger.com

Thanks

Sadanand Kamath

I was seriously considering that option but I felt that the blog should have latest travelogue...may be not more than 5 years old. All my treks are from 1984 to 1999 which may be too old to be in the blog. I thought that it will be better to share my treks in Indiamike which will have advantage of getting additional inputs from younger IMers-trekkers to make them up to date .

Sadanand

AvidTrekker

Sadanand, I did this trek in 1996 with some 22 children [13 to 18].

Your blog made me remember the very pleasant trek

Thanks!!!

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

Sadanand Kamath

I appreciate your enthusiasm. Managing 22 teens on a trek is a tough task.

capt_mahajan

Sadanand, I was a regular to Lata and beyond a couple of decades ago.

Your writeup brought back memories.. must get back at least once more.

AvidTrekker

Yes.... of Course .... and a thankless one !!!

Since you are trekker, you can very well appreciate it.

Somehow, children are easier to manage than adults .... at least that is my experience

kiranrawat

Hi Sadanand,
Thx for the beautiful writeup, this was my first trek (Ghuttu- Vasukital)& the all the godlen memories have flashed out.
I wanna add a note that between Ghuttu to 3 km before Panwali Khantha there is no water availbale so u have to carry enough water from Ghuttu & the trek is too steep.

The Panwali Bugwal are awsome & beautiful,we have seen the sunset from there as well as the himalayan range

Thanks again
Cheers
Kiran
rawat.fotopic.net

Sadanand Kamath

I missed the point about the non availability of water. Thanks for pointing out. This is very important for trekkers.

I have mentioned in general that the trek from Ghuttu to Panwali Kantha involves steep climb.

Sadanand

jyotirmoy

I did this trek in the eighties and it is one of my best treks. The scenic beauty of the Bugyals is simply awsome.

Sadanand Kamath

I have never seen so many bugyals - and that too vast bugyals - in one single trek as I saw in Panwali Kantha trek. I was told that in monsoon, these bugyals are full of tiny flowers. What a spectacular sight it would be - tiny flowers in the midst of tiny grass .

Sadanand

jyotirmoy

Yes Sadanand I am sure there will be a lot of flowers in the monsoon, even in September I saw flowers. The Bugyals of Belak & Panwali are wide. We had hired two ponnies from Mala and had tents. Sleeping in these Bugyals was an unforgetable experience. Buddhakedar is a nice little sleepy hamlet with an ancient temple.

Dilliwala

Ok, u guys are the best to answer this question -

What are the names of the 2 peaks u can see upstream from Ghuttu?
I was there this April and cudn't find out - the locals were useless (not my first such experience re peak names!). My maps weren't much help either, altho from them it's poss to believe that one peak was one of the Kedars.

Sadanand Kamath

The two peaks, I guess, are Thalya Sagar and Kedar Dome.

Sadanand

Dilliwala

BTW, a kachcha road now goes from Thati Kathur (Budha Kedar) to Belak Khal. I hear there are plans to extend it to Latasera/Malla.